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Last year, in an administrative move that filled parents with dread, my daughter Avery?s grade-two class was split up. Six of the children were lumped in with the grade-one students, while the rest merged with the small grade-three class.
In the weeks before the class lists were posted, I wondered where they would shuffle Avery, and I worried how the year would play out. What if she ended up with the little kids, or was separated from her friends" Would she learn everything she needed to from a new teacher juggling two curricula" As it turns out, my concerns were for naught. Assigned to the two-three class, Avery thrived. This year she?s in another split: a grade three-four class with an instructor who is well versed in the Alberta curriculum and has taught many different grades at our southeast-Calgary school. ?I like being able to work with the grade-four students in math, or read to my level in guided reading,? Avery, an enthusiastic little scholar, recently told me one day after school. ?It challenges me.?
Being in the same classroom with older kids for two consecutive years has also expanded Avery?s social circle and improved her self-confidence, two more noted perks of the combined-classroom arrangement. (Admittedly, I?m not thrilled that the grade fours will be learning about puberty later this year, and will no doubt share the details with the younger kids, including my daughter, during recess.) Overall, a split has been a great fit for my kid...